Past games

About VCSU

Located in Valley City, ND, Valley City State University is a member of the NorthStar Athletic Conference.

Tourney info.

Morningside Invite

Fri, Mar 29 - Fri, Mar 29

Venue:

SYA Softball Complex

Location:

Sioux City, Iowa

Softball To Play Three Games at Morningside Invite

Game Time...Northwestern College resumes its 2013 softball season as they play three games at the Morningside Invite today (Friday, March 29) at the SYA Softball Complex in Sioux City, Iowa. The Red Raiders plays Valley City State at 11:00am, Dickinson State at 3:00pm and Jamestown at 5:00pm. Check out the official Morningside Softball Invite website at the following link: Morningside Invite!

All-Time...Northwestern is 1-2 all-time against Valley City State (N.D.), earning its only win against the Vikings last year at the Morningside Invite. They lost to VCSU in 2002 and 2010.

The Red Raiders are 0-3 all-time against Dickinson State, including a 10-0, five-inning defeat last year.

Northwestern is 3-2 all-time against Jamestown (N.D.), earning a 2-1 win over the Jimmies at the Morningside Invite last year.

Scouting Valley City State...Members of the Association of Independent Institutions (AII), the Vikings are 1-15 so far this season. They opened the year with 12 straight losses before earning a 16-3 win over Missouri Valley. VCSU has since lost three more games, falling to Baker (Kan.), Purdue North Central (Ind.) and Judson (Ill.).

Chad Slyter is in his 10th season as the head coach of the Vikings and returns 12 players off a 2012 team that finished with a 26-20 overall record, the second most wins in the program's history. They did lose five starters and its top two pitchers.

Valley City State scores three runs per game, hitting .208 as a team. Senior Adrianna Boychuk leads the team with a .318 average, scoring six runs and totaling five RBIs. Savannah Mcmillin is another returning starter and is the only other Vikings' player to hit over .300, coming in with a .310 average. Hillary Kulczewski returns after an injury-riddled 2012 season and leads the team with seven RBIs.

The Vikings pitching staff has a 3.79 ERA and gives up over six runs per game. Newcomer Samantha Nalley, a transfer from Portaville Junior College, has an 0-10 record with a 3.05 ERA.

Scouting Dickinson State...The Blue Hawks own a 10-10 record this season heading into Friday's games. Members of the Frontier Conference in most sports, Dickinson State joins the AII league for softball. Earlier this year, they won four straight games, including wins over GPAC teams Dordt and Mount Marty. They bring a three-game losing streak into the Morningside Invite.

Head coach Kristen Fleury is in her fourth season as the head of the DSU softball program and sixth overall, spending two years as an assistant. She returns 10 players off a 2012 team that finished with a 28-23 overall record.

Dickinson State boasts a .319 batting average, scoring five runs per game. Taysia Kaufman, a first team all-conference pick in 2012, leads the team with a .391 batting average. She has scored a team-best 19 runs and has eight RBIs. Janel Laront is hitting .383 this season with 16 runs scored and 16 RBIs, second most on the team. She was a second team all-conference pick last year. Freshman Monique Yslas is hitting .381 in her first season at DSU.

The Blue Hawks pitching staff is giving up 3.5 runs per game and has a 3.63 team ERA. Kaufman leads the staff with a 4-3 record and 3.17 ERA. Both Nicole Lobato and Laront have two wins each.

Scouting Jamestown...The Jimmies are 8-6 this season, 0-2 in the AII conference. They bring a modest two-game win streak into Friday, earing a doubleheader sweep over Concordia-Moorhead last time out.

Kevin Gall has over 300 wins in his 13 years as the Jimmies head coach and bring back eight starters and 10 players off a 2012 squad that won the DAC conference with an 8-4 record, 28-23 overall.

Jamestown scores over six runs per game and is batting .319 as a team. Janelle Spear is hitting an impressive .486 (17-for-35) with nine RBIs. Rachel Ivelia returns as a starter and is hitting .442 with 14 runs and 11 RBIs. She earned Gold Glove honors last year. Kate Johnson (.439) and Courtney Van den bussche (.385) are the other top hitters.

D.J. Johnson, last year's pitcher of the year, and Emily Snow anchor the Jimmies pitching staff with 4-3 records. Johnson has a 4.57 ERA and has 23 strike outs in 38.1 innings. Jamestown gives up five runs per game.

Northwestern News and Notes...The Red Raiders come into the Morningside Invite with a 9-11 overall record. Since going 7-3 at the Tucson Invite, Northwestern has dropped four straight games, all to ranked teams. They lost to Simpson (Iowa), the 18th-ranked team in NCAA D-III, last weekend, and lost a doubleheader to (RV) Bellevue last night.

Northwestern scores 4.3 runs per game and has a .266 batting average. Sophomore Jillian Kleinhesselink is hitting a team-best .348 with 15 runs and 21 stolen bases, both team highs. Alex Price is batting .328 and leads the team with 16 RBIs. Lindsey Remien and Laura Hurley also sport batting averages over .300, hitting .317 and .315.

The Red Raider pitching staff has a 4.81 team ERA and gives up nearly five runs per game. Katie Vande Voort is 5-3 with a 4.12 ERA while Keely Bracelin is 3-8 with a 5.61 ERA.

Up Next...Northwestern is scheduled to open conference play at home on Tuesday, April 2 against Dakota Wesleyan at 5/7pm.